HER UNIVERSE Panel At SDCC Focuses On Female Sci-Fi Heroes

By Mike — Saturday, July 9, 2011

For the second year-in-a-row, actress and HER UNIVERSETM Founder, Ashley Eckstein, will be sponsoring and hosting a very special panel at San Diego Comic Con on Thursday, July 21st from 6pm to 7pm in room 25ABC. Entitled, “Her Universe: What Women Want in Their Female Sci-Fi Heroes,” the panel will feature an all-star group of panelists including Dave Filoni, Supervising Director of Star WarsTM: The Clone Wars.

At long last, fangirls are now asserting their rightful place in a pop culture community typically dominated by men (and boys). Leading the charge and creating a voice for geek girls everywhere is Ashley Eckstein, who provides the voice of AhsokaTano in the animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. A year ago, she launched HER UNIVERSE, a “geek chic” line featuring fashionable, female–focused apparel and accessories for fangirls from the beloved Star Wars franchise and, now, her new Syfy branded line which includes designs for BattlestarGalactica and Warehouse 13, among others. Eckstein’s new endeavor, however, is not just about selling merchandise. She has started a movement within the Sci-Fi community to equally acknowledge the female fan base.

As the voice of a strong female role model, AhsokaTano, host Eckstein wants to bring the conversation of women in Sci-Fi to the forefront. Today, a new generation of creative minds are molding the strong, intelligent and powerful female roles we see in many Sci-Fi films, television, comics and other media. What are the differences from past Sci-Fi adventures with female characters to today’s feminine heroes that women can really connect to? How do you create a truly interesting and unique female character in the Sci-Fi universe? How are they different from their male counterparts? These questions and more will be discussed on this timely subject by Eckstein and a dynamic panel of creative minds from television, film, comics and publishing including Dave Filoni, alongside Chris Sanagustin (SVP Development & Current Programming for Universal Cable Productions), Bryan Q. Miller (Exec. Story Editor-Smallville, writer-Batgirl comic), Betsy Mitchell (Editor in Chief - Del Rey Books), Melinda Hsu Taylor(writer/producer- Lost, Medium, Supervising Producer - Touch) and Gail Simone (writer - DC’s Birds of Prey, Secret Six and Wonder Woman)

The current line of HER UNIVERSE Star Wars apparel and accessories can be found at www.heruniverseshop.com. The new HER UNIVERSE Syfy branded apparel debuts at San Diego Comic Con and online simultaneously.